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After attending the Color Light Motion show, hosted by Ryszard Kluszczyński, I gained a deeper understanding of Wen-Ying Tsai’s workx and how he was a driving force in cybernetic art that continues to be felt today. As Antonio Coelho puts it “Cybernetics uses parallelism between the forms of communication of machines and the process of the human brain in processing information,” (Coelho) which illustrates the potential of cybernetics in bridging the gap between technology, science, and art. What is interesting about Tsai is that despite his works being extremely creative, and self organizing allowing the viewer to have an influence over their appearance many view his work as “unsatisfactory”. One of his first works that stood out to me was Harmonic Sculpture #10, which was a sculpture that responded to external stimuli such as a stomp or snap initiated by the audience. Another work that Ryszard mentioned that I found intriguing was the, “Upward Falling Fountain” which displayed water d...

When we visit a modern hospital today, we are accustomed to having various technologies that allow us to get a closer look at the makeup of our bodies and interior. However, we didn’t always have access to what our insides looked like, as we can see how our views of them changed, “as technology progressed from X rays to CT scans to MRIs” (Vesna). While most see these medical technologies as tools to better the health of humans, they can contribute to art as well. An example is the X Ray, which is commonly used to investigate bones/ligaments inside humans, however when it comes to painting, “different materials attenuate or block their pathway,” (Collins) this pattern of “attenuation and transmission can be captured using a series of film plates,” (Collins) illustrating how the X Ray can be used to physically alter and improve art. They can also be used to examine past art and see the changes that the piece underwent before the final product was complete which can provide insight into t...

Week 3 Although the invention of the printing press is commonly credited to Johannes Gutenberg it actually originated 400 years prior in China. Gutenberg however, did bring the printing press to the west which catapulted a period that was characterized by the “rapid dispersion of knowledge,” (Vesna 2012) that completely redefined the way that knowledge could be accessed by the ordinary individual. It inaugurated a cultural shift to mass production, one in which important texts such as the bible could be attained by anyone It also was one of the key factors that made movements such as the Reformation possible as it allowed people to “shape and channel mass movement in ideas,” (McFadden 2018) and thus weakening the Catholic church’s stranglehold of private materials. While one may think that mass production is extremely beneficial for society, that is not always the case, as illustrated by Walter Benjamin in his essay “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction”. Benjamin argu...

Week 2: Math + Art After processing all the information I gained from this week’s lectures and readings, I feel like I have gained a new understanding of the complex relationship between math and art. The most interesting example of the intersection between the two fields to me was the golden ratio, described as the “ultimate connection of math and art.” (Vesna 2012) My initial reaction was definitely one of intrigue, as from my previous math classes, the word ratio implied some sort of proportion and spacing such as a number line. As I researched more, I was surprised to learn that the ratio not only applied to art, but also to a variety of fields including, “architecture, painting, and music,” (Esposito 2018) as well.     One work of art that exemplified the golden ratio of 1.618 was Salvador Dali’s painting, “Sacrament of the Last Supper” which “incorporated a huge dodecahedron (a twelve-faced Platonic solid in which each side is a pentagon) engulfing the supper table.” (L...

Week 1: Two Cultures 4/5/2024 Tristan Ngo  After reading this week’s material, I gained a profound understanding of the intersection between art, science, and technology. Specifically through Prof Vesna’s insightful article “Toward a Third Culture: Being in between,' I learned of the long standing divide between science and humanities and how technology can be a key in reconciling those differences and finding a common ground where both can benefit from each other. For instance, Vesna states “Artists using technology are uniquely positioned in the middle of the scientific and and literary/philosophical communities and are allowed poetic license, which gives us the freedom to reinforce the delicate bridge and indeed contribute tt the creation of a new, mutant third culture” (Vesna 122), demonstrating the impactful role that artists can have in translating the complex scientific knowledge to the realm of humanities. A similar sentiment is echoed in C.P. Snow’s article, “The Two Cultu...